"What the fuck is Marcielo doing here?"
"Language, Lorena. But to answer your question, I'm not quite sure. I just saw him from afar and was immediately on the lookout for you."
"Verona?" Lorena grabbed her sister's shoulder, temporarily forgetting about her aching arm. "I need you to help me out here. If Papa sees anything suspicious, we're both going down." She counted her words carefully.
"Don't you think I know that? That's why you must tell him to leave before Father sees him."
"Lorena?" They both turned around at the same time to see Marcielo standing behind them.
"I'll leave you two alone," Verona drew closer to her and whispered. "I'll be on the lookout for anyone we know. Make him go away." She turned around, giving Marcielo a smile before walking away.
Lorena took a moment to gather her best thoughts before raising her head up to Marcielo.
"Lady Lorena?" He called in that soft velvet voice of his. So different, terribly different from the thickness of Makris's voice.
"What are you doing here, Marci?" She said, clasping her hands in front of her. She kept a steady voice, even when she was trembling deep within herself.
"Lorena?" He took a step towards her.
"No, stay back, Marci. I want to know why you're here." This time her voice was a bit shaky with all the emotions flowing within.
Before, she was the man she loved with all her heart, but because of her cruel fate, she couldn't be with him.
"Just once, let me touch you just once." He closed in on her and stroked her hair gently with his fingers. A sting of tears formed at the corner of her eyes, as she stared into his gentle eyes.
He was a dream of a man. All her life, she was used to demanding men. Men that felt like women were beneath them, including her father. But it had always been different with Marcielo. He was so gentle, and sweet.
"You can't be here." Her voice choked with tears as her pleading eyes touched the depth of his soul.
"I know, Bellissima. But I had to see you. When I got the call to do a job here, I would turn it down until I heard you'll be there. I had to see you."
"Bellissima, You've not called me that in years."
She chuckled. "But still, if anyone finds you here...."
"Shhhh," He placed a finger on her lip, suddenly emboldened.
Never had he thought he could be in this position with Lorena. He had been in love with her since he could remember. He had also known she had a crush on him, but he never thought it would amount to anything much.
"Just a moment. I just want to look at you for a moment."
Lorena bit her lip and let him be. Even if it was just for that moment, she was contented with her peace. There were no hidden games. She didn't have to guess his intentions. He was also not going to hurt her.
"You're so beautiful. So sweet and perfect. You shouldn't be marrying someone you don't even like." He whispered, caressing her face.
She sighed.
"I don't want to marry him either, but my father. Oh, My God, my father!" She pushed his hands away, finally regaining her senses.
"What is it, Lorena?" He looked around, bewildered by the sudden change.
"You need to leave, Marci. If my father catches you here, it will not end well for anyone." She grabbed his hands, squeezing them gently but with urgency.
"Calm down Lorena. I could just tell him I came here to do a job." He said, trying to rationalize the situation.
"No, you don't understand. Papa is too wise to be so easily deceived. You need to leave Marci, please." She said, dragging his hands now.
She had been away for too long already. Indeed, they were looking for her now. She looked around, wondering if Verona was still keeping an eye out for her, or if they'd been found.
"You need to take a deep breath, Lorena. Nothing is going to happen to me." He grabbed her shoulders, pulling her closer to him.
"No, you don't understand. You, of all people, know how my father can be," her eyes widened, wondering why he wasn't getting that his life was in danger.
"I know my father. This is not going to end well." Her voice cracked, and a single tear rushed down her eyes.
"Don't do that." He wiped it off with a finger.
"Lorena!"
"Oh shit!" She thought, her feet rooted to the ground. So much for getting Marcielo out of here. She should have known she could never outsmart her father. Beside him, her sister was shivering, as she mouthed that she was sorry to Lorena.
"Lorena!" He called again.
"You need to run, Marci. Now!" She found her voice again.
"I'm not running anywhere." He said, holding her hands.
"What are you doing? You can't do that." She trembled and tried to pull her hands away from him.
"Signor Cicero, I cannot watch Lorena marry another man she's not even in love with. It's not right."
"Marcielo..."
"And who do you think you are to tell me what is right or wrong for my daughter?" Cicero's moustache twitched, as he stood amused by the audacity of his plumber.
"I deeply care about Lorena," He drew her even closer to him. "I simply cannot watch her live an unhappy life."
Lorena prayed for the ground to open up and swallow her. Judging from the rage in her father's eyes, she knew it would not end well for either one of them.
"Not like I owe you an explanation giovanotto, but I did the same thing for my eldest, and she is now happily married to the duke. You should not question the things you have no understanding of. Now I'll tell you for the very last time, unhand my daughter, and leave my sight!" He warned, pointing the sharp end of his fingers towards him.
"I'm not leaving without Lorena."
"Marcielo, please leave. Please." Verona called from behind her father.
"Shut it you! You helped encourage this madness from your sister. You should be ashamed of yourself." He said, seething. Verona instantly grew still beside her father. No one was safe in his rage, not even the dukes wife.
Lorena closed her eyes, numb to whatever was happening around her. Somehow, she always seemed to attract trouble. She had tried her best to save Marcielo, and now it was in the hands of God.
"Since you won't leave quietly, you give me no choice. Boys!"
Immediately, three hefty men appeared from nowhere, approaching Marcielo.
"You need to leave now," Lorena's eyes snapped open. "Please, Marcielo!" Before she could finish her words, they were upon them. She shoved her aside, and they grabbed Marcielo.
"Don't hurt him," She screamed. "Don't you dare hurt him!" She broke down in tears, watching the hefty men kick him to the ground.
"Padre," She ran to her father and dropped to her knees. "Make them stop, please. Punish me instead." She cried as she heard them throw punch after punch.
"You brought this upon yourself," Her father hissed, and turned around. "Throw him out of here when you're done teaching him a lesson." He ordered and walked away but stopped halfway.
"Verona? Your husband needs you by his side now!" Verona's eyes pleaded with her sister as she hurried behind her father. Now was not the time to oppose him. Everyone knew that: everyone, especially Lorena.
"Padre, please!" Lorena cried. She tried to run and help Marcielo when a hand grabbed her and pinned her to the spot.
"Let go of me." She kicked and screamed as she watched the hefty men take Marcielo away.
"I'll come back for you, Bellissima," Those were the last words she heard from Marcielo before they dragged him out of sight.
"I said, let me go!" She tried to pull away, but the person holding her was too strong."
"You need to calm down and pull yourself together, Emerald. Or should I say, Bellissima?"
Lorena froze. When she thought this day couldn't get any worse, Makris had just seen her in her worst state.
"Let me go." She repeated. Her voice had lost all its fight. She just wanted to get under a duvet and cry her eyes out.
"I will," He pressed her back deeper against his body. "Soon." He said, sniffing her hair. He should have known there was a reason for her coldness towards him. It was because she was in love with another man. He had watched it all play out.
The woman he desired, like a second breath, was totally in love with another man. "I want to go home." She muttered over and over again.
He scoffed. "Home? Where is that?" There wasn't a home without her. A home where the woman he was to marry was in love with another man sounded like hell. He couldn't deny his wounded pride.
"Just home," She whispered incoherently as visions of her mother's face filled her head.
"Let me go." Makris was worried now, as she mumbled incoherently. He stepped back and tried to turn her around to face him. As soon as he did, she fell limp. He caught her just in time before her body hit the ground.